American fire : love, arson, and life in a vanishing land, Monica Hesse

The Resource American fire : love, arson, and life in a vanishing land, Monica Hesse

American fire : love, arson, and life in a vanishing land, Monica Hesse

Resource Information

The item American fire : love, arson, and life in a vanishing land, Monica Hesse represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Santa Clara County Library District.

"The arsons started on a cold November midnight and didn't stop for months. Night after night, the people of Accomack County waited to see which building would burn down next, regarding each other at first with compassion, and later suspicion. Vigilante groups sprang up, patrolling the rural Virginia coast with cameras and camouflage. Volunteer firefighters slept at their stations. The arsonist seemed to target abandoned buildings, but local police were stretched too thin to surveil them all. Accomack was desolate--there were hundreds of abandoned buildings. And by the dozen they were burning. The culprit, and the path that led to these crimes, is a story of twenty-first century America....Though it's hard to believe today, one hundred years ago Accomack was the richest rural county in the nation. Slowly it's been drained of its industry--agriculture--as well as its wealth and population. In an already remote region, limited employment options offer little in the way of opportunity. A mesmerizing and crucial panorama with nationwide implications, American Fire asks what happens when a community gets left behind. Hesse brings to life the Eastern Shore and its inhabitants, battling a punishing economy and increasingly terrified by a string of fires they could not explain. The result evokes the soul of rural America--a land half gutted before the fires even began." -- provided by publisher

One hundred years ago Accomack was the richest rural county in the nation. Slowly it's been drained of its industry-- agriculture-- as well as its wealth and population. The arsons started on a November night in 2012 and didn't stop for months. The people waited to see which abandoned building would burn down next, regarding each other at first with compassion, and later suspicion. Vigilante groups sprang up; volunteer firefighters slept at their stations. The culprits were galvanized by a surprising love story built on tight budgets and simple pleasures, in a land half gutted before the fires even began

"The arsons started on a cold November midnight and didn't stop for months. Night after night, the people of Accomack County waited to see which building would burn down next, regarding each other at first with compassion, and later suspicion. Vigilante groups sprang up, patrolling the rural Virginia coast with cameras and camouflage. Volunteer firefighters slept at their stations. The arsonist seemed to target abandoned buildings, but local police were stretched too thin to surveil them all. Accomack was desolate--there were hundreds of abandoned buildings. And by the dozen they were burning. The culprit, and the path that led to these crimes, is a story of twenty-first century America....Though it's hard to believe today, one hundred years ago Accomack was the richest rural county in the nation. Slowly it's been drained of its industry--agriculture--as well as its wealth and population. In an already remote region, limited employment options offer little in the way of opportunity. A mesmerizing and crucial panorama with nationwide implications, American Fire asks what happens when a community gets left behind. Hesse brings to life the Eastern Shore and its inhabitants, battling a punishing economy and increasingly terrified by a string of fires they could not explain. The result evokes the soul of rural America--a land half gutted before the fires even began." -- provided by publisher

One hundred years ago Accomack was the richest rural county in the nation. Slowly it's been drained of its industry-- agriculture-- as well as its wealth and population. The arsons started on a November night in 2012 and didn't stop for months. The people waited to see which abandoned building would burn down next, regarding each other at first with compassion, and later suspicion. Vigilante groups sprang up; volunteer firefighters slept at their stations. The culprits were galvanized by a surprising love story built on tight budgets and simple pleasures, in a land half gutted before the fires even began

Cataloging source

TEFOD

http://library.link/vocab/creatorName

Hesse, Monica

Dewey number

364.16/42/09/75516

Illustrations

illustrations

plates

Index

no index present

LC call number

HV6638.5.U6

LC item number

H47 2017eb

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

dictionaries

http://library.link/vocab/subjectName

Arson

Rural crimes

Accomack County (Va.)

Accomack County (Va.)

Accomack County (Va.)

Arson

Economic history

Rural conditions

Rural crimes

Social history

Virginia

Arson

Label

American fire : love, arson, and life in a vanishing land, Monica Hesse